This weekend at the 33rd annual Wine and Food Festival, sample some spirits, grab a bite to eat and dance the night away with music from the funk/soul band Reverend Slanky.

Saturday’s event, organized by Gusto Beverage, begins at 6 p.m. at the Best Western Heritage Inn.

The festival also has a silent auction with proceeds going to the Cascade County Boys & Girls Club. The tasting runs from 6 to 9 p.m., then the band takes the stage until midnight.

This year features more than 110 wines, seven beer tables and eight food vendors. Eight wine distributors are new to the festival including Zorro Negro Imports of Argentina, Lazarre Wine Company, Robison Ranch Cellars, Pianetta Winery and Opol Vineyards. The wines come from across the U.S. and beyond, from countries such as Germany, Spain, Argentina, France and Italy. One Montana winery, Mission Mountain Winery, will be represented as well.

The beer providers include the Front Brewery and the Mighty Mo Brewery, both of Great Falls, as well as Coors and Miller providers, Boston Beer, Blue Moon and Bayern from Missoula. Bayern will have a cask-conditioned wood barrel. Cask-conditioned beer is unfiltered and unpasteurized, served from a cask without extra nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure.

Reverend Slanky, a Missoula-based funk band, has performed across Montana for more than seven years. Slanky plays anything from Latin music to Afro-beat songs.

Not only is the music homegrown, but so are the beverages.

Jason Naranjo, fine wine sales manager with Gusto, said they reach out to independent suppliers over those that are corporate owned.

“Our stuff is geared more toward the independent local retail shops and restaurants,” he said. “Stuff that might not be found in large chains.”

By featuring the eight new suppliers, Naranjo said they’re trying to “put the wine back in the wine and food festival.”

“With the new stuff coming in, it is important to reach out to people who want something new,” he said. “I’d like to see every year us try to breathe new life into the festival — keep the stuff that works but every year bring in and do something different.

“We’re not changing it but instead we’re breathing new life into it.”

The festival connects visitors with the experts who help produce the wine.

“We’ve been able to get more suppliers to commit to come to our city and show their wines,” he said. “And all of the new wineries to the festival will have people from the winery that are either the wine maker, a family member of the wine maker, or we’ve got a husband and wife team coming in, such as Adam and Angie LaZarre. That means a lot, and it does help the local community get a little of that Napa or Paso wine experience in their town and get them to talk to somebody that’s from there and is hands-on with the wines and wineries.”

Bill Johnson, wine manager for Gusto Distributing, said since they started the festival, he’s seen people become more educated about wine and beer.

“Over 33 years, it’s done nothing but increase the number of people who are more knowledgeable,” he said. “People who might stay away from white zinfandel and move into other varietals. It’s been really neat.”

Tickets to the Wine and Food Festival are $50 in advance and $55 at the door. They can be purchased in advance at Albertsons or at the Heritage Inn.